What is Sapodilla? What is Sapotille?

Sapodilla, also called Sapotille, is a tropical fruit grown in huge quantity in South Asia. The fruit is large, and the flesh is yellow to brown and is very sweet. Sapodilla is usually eaten fresh but is also used to make jam and syrup.

What is Sapodilla? What is Sapotille?

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Where Does It Come From? The Sapodilla tree is a long- lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. It was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonisation. It is grown in huge quantities in South Asia.Sapodilla tree can grow to more than 30 metres tall with an average trunk diameterof 1.5 metres.The tree can only survive in warm, typically tropical environments, dying easily if thetemperature drops below freezing. From germination, the sapodilla tree will usuallytake anywhere from five to eight years to bear fruit. The sapodilla trees yield fruittwice a year, though flowering may continue year round.

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What Does It Look Like? The fruit is a large ellipsoid berry, 4–8 cm in diameter, containing two to five seeds. Inside, its flesh ranges from a pale yellow to an earthy brown colour with a grainy texture. The seeds are black and resemble beans, with a hook at one end that can catch in the throat if swallowed. The fruit has a high latex content and does not ripen until picked.The fruit has an exceptionally sweet, malty flavour. The unripe fruit is hard to the touch and contains high amounts of saponin, which has astringent properties similar to tannin, drying out the mouth.

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How To Use It? It is usually eaten fresh but it is also used to make syrup, jam or even juice. Sometimes it is also eaten dried. A dessert sauce is made by peeling and seeding ripe sapodillas, pressing the flesh through a colander, adding orange juice, and topping with whipped cream. Sapodilla flesh may also be blended into an egg custard mix before baking.

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What Are Sapodilla Benefits?Sapodilla is a very good source of dietary fibre and is rich in antioxidant poly -phenoliccompound tannin.Sapodilla contains a good amount of antioxidant vitamins like vitamin C (24.5% ofrecommended daily intake per 100 g of fruit) and vitamin A.Fresh ripen sapodilla is a good source of minerals like potassium, copper, iron andvitamins like folate, niacin and pantothenic acid.